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"You're strip-searched, you're given clothes and then you're put in a cell," Santos told 5 Investigates' Karen Anderson. "The cell doors slamming behind you. It makes your heart sink, knowing you can't get out of this room."

Santos was "sectioned," civilly committed under Section 35 of a state law that allows men and women to be held without their consent for up to 90 days if their addiction puts them at risk of harming themselves or others.

Santos, who denies she has a substance abuse problem, was sectioned by police and was shocked to find herself at MCI-Framingham.

"I was confused, wanted to know why I was there," she said.

Civilly committed women like Santos are sent to the state prison in Framingham if treatment beds aren't available, a practice that advocates have railed against for decades as inhumane and ineffective. It's also a practice the Baker administration is vowing to fix as part of legislation to be filed Thursday addressing the opioid crisis.

Five Investigates got an exclusive look at where Santos and many women end up when treatment beds aren't available. Their stay usually starts in the prison detox unit, which are shared rooms off of a grim hallway.

"Bed, bucket and a toilet in there obviously that the girls would throw up in," she said.

After a short time in detox, Santos was sharing a unit and small recreational yard with accused criminals. Each approximately 8-by 12-foot cell has a sink, toilet desk and two beds bunked on top of each other.

Civilly committed women bunk together, but they share a unit with others awaiting trial. Santos said she played cards with an accused murderer.

"That was very intimidating. There were girls in there who were awaiting trial for murder, for armed robbery, for many different crimes," she said.

Even though they have been committed for substance abuse problems, the civilly committed women have no access to substance abuse programs like Alcoholics and Narcotics Anonymous -- even though those programs are available to the convicted female prisoners incarcerated elsewhere in MCI-Framingham.

NewsCenter 5's Susan Wornick first exposed the problem 25 years ago in an award-winning series, "Punishment without a Crime."

"I was locked up for 23 hours a day in a cage. I was chained. I was manacled. I was searched like a felon," one middle aged woman who was sectioned in Framingham said at the time.

That woman sued the state, leading to a settlement where the state vowed to use Framingham only as last resort.

But 5 Investigates found that, in the past five years, 1,087 women have been civilly committed to MCI-Framingham.

The ACLU and other attorneys are again suing the state, saying sending civilly committed women to the prison is discriminatory, overly harsh and deprives them of the treatment they need.

"This kind of approach is unconstitutional. It's also ineffective and it isn't saving lives," Rossman said.

Five Investigates' Anderson asked the Baker administration why addicted women are still being housed in prison.

"Our goal is to actually end a long-standing practice of sending civilly committed women to MCI-Framingham for treatment," said Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders.

"What you do you say to people who have heard this for years?" Anderson asked.

"You can hold this administration to ending the practice of sending women to MCI-Framingham for the treatment of addictions," Sudders replied. "There is no question, this administration will end that practice."

The administration is already committed to building new secure treatment beds in Taunton.

The ACLU says it will not accept any resolution that doesn't bar the practice of sectioning women to prison.

"It's outrageous," said Santos. "It's frustrating to think that so many people that need help are not getting the help that they need."